Post-Soviet Russia

Kind of how we live now. Know your oligarchs, people.They are the people buying your elections.

Update: Check out that "remarkable rate of return"

Big money has dominated politics for decades, but the most important recent trend is the growth of third-party groups that typically fund ads on behalf of candidates, often with incomplete disclosure on where the funding comes from. Such SuperPACs and other similar groups have thrived thanks to recent Supreme Court decisions allowing vast amounts of money from corporations and wealthy donors to flow to campaigns. The Center for Responsive Politics estimates that such groups spent close to $600 million this cycle.

Evidence is mounting that billionaire donors basically control the entire political system, with one recent study arguing that “America’s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened.”